"Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won't you please, please help me?"

…

Leo Fitz had stayed up with her all night again.

He adored his daughter, loved her to pieces, but having a 10 year old who couldn't sleep through the night has left him exhausted beyond belief. She was fine until four years ago when her mother packed up and left Leo for another man, going god knows where, and he received sole custody. Ever since then, she would be crying or hungry or too tired to sleep (Leo often wondered how that could possibly be a reason) and would only settle down if he tirelessly dedicated a good few hours to her, reading her stories or letting her watch a small amount of TV.

The problem was, if he wasn't catering for his daughter, Leo was at work, where he would often be expected to stay until ridiculously late at night, and it was making his home situation even worse. His closest family member was still miles away from his home in New York and with his job at the newspaper becoming increasingly more demanding, Leo had no time for a social life. He didn't have much of one even when he was still happily married and everything was okay. He had no time for himself and hardly any time with his daughter; it wasn't healthy.

It couldn't continue. Absolutely not.

One of the few good things about his otherwise crappy job was that he could print an advertisement in the paper for a smaller fee. He'd have to go without a meal for a few days and let his daughter eat instead, but it would be worth it in the long run. He desperately needed a babysitter, and fast.

'WANTED URGENTLY: Babysitter for 10 year old girl; needs to be extremely flexible with their availability, including the potential for very late nights. $6.50 an hour. Contact Leo on 212-347-8901.'

All he could do was pray the gods would be kind. He needed all the help he could get.

…

Leo sat in his apartment nervously tapping his fingers on the end of his couch. His daughter was at school and he'd called in sick for the day, hoping no one would find out. After a few days, the advertisement finally came through for him and an interested party called. She sounded nice enough on the phone, and was more than happy to negotiate details of the job in person, so Leo was optimistic. Plus, she was English, and with him being Scottish, the familiarity in her voice soothed him somehow. He put his favourite band on the CD player, The Beatles, to make the place seem friendlier, and waited.

The doorbell rang and suddenly Leo was overcome with fear and panic; this was his first social interaction with an adult for a long time. He never saw any of his friends anymore and everyone at work ignored him, so this was a big deal.

Do not make a fool of yourself.

Upon opening the door, Leo was quite surprised at the sight. The woman smiling in front of him was of a similar age to him, and was quite beautiful. Her delicate hazel hair matched her wide and wonderful eyes, while she wore a white blouse and black skirt. She was incredibly presentable, and Leo was impressed.

"Jemma?" He asked, holding out his hand. She shook it with a smile.

"Yeah, Leo?" She confirmed, and he nodded as he invited her inside. She tentatively looked around and sat on the couch. She seemed quite impressed at the tidiness of the apartment (Leo had spent the last few hours cleaning it) and was even happier to see Leo making a cup of tea.

"Would you like one?" He asked.

"Yes, please. Milk and two sugars." Jemma said.

"Just how I have it." Leo smiled. Jemma smiled back.

Eventually, the two were sat together on the couch drinking their tea in neither a comfortable nor uncomfortable silence.

"So, your daughter is ten?" Jemma asked. Leo nodded, reaching into his pocket and getting a picture of her out of his wallet. He handed it to her.

"That's Cleo." He stated.

"Oh, she's beautiful." Jemma said.

"Thank you, she really is. Gets it from her mother, evidently." Leo commented.

"Is her mother here, or…?"

"Oh, uh…no. We're not together anymore. She decided that a mechanic was a better suit for her than her husband of seven years and her six year old daughter." Leo said, bitterness in his voice. Jemma froze in shock and awkwardness.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-"

"-No, no! It's fine, don't worry. It was four years ago, so you'd think I'd be over it, but…it was unexpected. One day she was just gone. I didn't think anything was wrong. Haven't seen her since; she wants nothing to do with us. That's when it started getting problematic, with Cleo not sleeping and all, it all began then. These past few months it's just gotten worse now my job's getting more demanding." Leo explained.

"I see. Well, beg my pardon but she sounds like a dreadful woman. You and Cleo are probably better off without her." Jemma commented.

"Yeah, probably." Leo nodded.

"I hope you don't mind me saying, but you look a little young to have a 10 year old daughter." Jemma said anxiously.

"Oh, yeah…Cleo's mum and I were together since school. I was 18 when she was born. A few years later we got married and moved here. It was a very unexpected turn of events but I wouldn't give her up for the world." Leo explained.

"Ah, right. I thought you were around my age; I'm 28 too. I'll be 29 on September 11th." Jemma said.

"So I'm…23 days older than you." Leo said, and Jemma nodded.

"Well, there you go."

"So, are you solely a babysitter, or…?"

"Oh, no, I'm a part-time waitress but do babysitting to get the extra cash. I love children you see, not in a creepy way, obviously, but since I've yet to have any of my own yet babysitting appeals to me. My boyfriend seems to be years off proposing, more like starting a family and we've been together for 4 years now." Jemma explained. Leo was shocked by how endearing and easy to talk to she was.

"Well, I'm sure it'll work out in the end." Leo smiled.

"Fingers crossed. So, should we get down to it?" Jemma asked and Leo nodded.

"Sure. So, um…since you work part-time, working hours shouldn't be too much of a problem?" Leo asked.

"Not at all. I'm good friends with the owner of the diner so I can get any shifts I want, so I can rearrange my hours for whenever you may require me." Jemma replied.

"And you're okay with the possibility of late nights? I just work pretty late sometimes and wouldn't want Cleo to be alone, and you seem extremely trustworthy." Leo said.

"Oh, I am, and late nights are no problem. I always stay up late anyway; I love the night time. I often stay up reading, so it's no issue."

"Well, the main duties would basically just watching over her, maybe playing with her if that's what she wants, but the priority would be making sure she's fed." Leo explained.

"Of course."

"She is a bit shy, but she'll come around when she gets used to you. And just so you know, I'm aware you're a babysitter, not a maid." Leo said.

"You'd be surprised the number of families I've worked for who weren't aware of that, so I appreciate that immensely." Jemma smiled.

"No problem, then. Well, I can handle the mornings with her and pick her up from school, but I often have to go back into work and leave her with the woman next door. She's gotten pretty fed up of it happening almost every day, so it would be more afternoons, evenings and nights. I'll have a list of everything prepared, like what she eats, her bedtime, and all that." Leo explained, Jemma nodding along as he spoke.

"Sounds good to me. You can just text me a time to come round when you decide. And would you need any help at weekends?" Jemma asked.

"On occasion, but that would be very rare." Leo answered.

"Well, I'm more than happy with that. When would you like me to start?"

"Well, let's see…it's Thursday today and…if I call in sick again tomorrow…how about Monday? I'd say around 4pm?" Leo suggested.

"Fantastic." Jemma smiled, finishing off her tea. Leo couldn't help but smile; this delightful woman was perfect for the job. The two stood up at exactly the same time as Jemma turned to the CD player.

"I'm glad that my employer has a good taste in music; I simply adore The Beatles." Jemma smiled.

"God, me too! They're just brilliant." Leo agreed as he opened the door for her.

"Well, I'll see you and Cleo on Monday?" Jemma asked.

"Yep. Thanks for doing this; you have no idea what a help you're going to be." Leo said meaningfully.

"No problem; I'm very much looking forward to getting to know you both." Jemma said happily as she shook Leo's hand.

"Yeah…me too." Leo said, his bright blue eyes drawn to her hazel ones like two magnets.

"Well…bye." Jemma giggled slightly with a wave as she walked out and down the stairs to exit the apartment building. He waved as she turned the corner and left his sight.

"Bye."

He closed the door and was overwhelmed with a feeling of relief. In a matter of minutes he was feeling incredibly positive about things. Jemma Simmons seemed to be the perfect babysitter and might just be exactly what he needed to get his life back on track. She was like his guardian angel. An angel was quite a fitting description for her, actually.

…

It was late on Sunday night, and Cleo was finally starting to give in to her tiredness. Honestly, Leo felt as if he could have gone to bed hours ago.

"Okay, remember that the babysitter I was telling you about is coming tomorrow." Leo said.

"…Is she nice?" Cleo asked.

"Very nice. Her name's Jemma, and she'll be coming around here a lot from now on, but she's a lot of fun. She's gonna help me take care of you."

"Do you not want to take care of me anymore? Like mummy?"

Leo took Cleo's hand and kissed it.

"Of course I do, sweetie, it's just…work is keeping me very busy and I can't juggle everything very well at the minute, so Jemma's going to help me out. I promise, you're gonna love her." Leo smiled.

"But I want you to look after me."

"I'll still be here, honey, but I need to keep earning money at work to pay the bills. You trust me, right? Why do you trust me?"

"Because you're my daddy." Cleo giggled.

"And?"

"And we're a team."

"You bet we are, and that's never gonna change. Cross my heart. So, trust me…Jemma is gonna be a gift to both of us." Leo smiled, kissing Cleo's forehead and heading for the door.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you stay with me for a while? Until I fall asleep?" Cleo asked. Fitz checked his watched and saw how late it was and sighed.

"Yeah, of course I will, sweetie."

With that, he sat next to Cleo on her bed, holding her hand and stroking her hair as she finally began to drift off to sleep.

…

Leo stuffed papers and stationery into his bag in a rush the next day, having been told he had to come back into work as soon as possible to draft another article for the next day's issue. Checking his watch, he saw Jemma was due to arrive any minute, and quite promptly the doorbell rang. He rushed to the door and opened it, where Jemma greeted him with a sweet smile.

"Hello, I am on time, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, bang on. I just have to get back to work as soon as possible; they're pressed for a deadline for tomorrow's issue." Leo explained as Jemma walked in.

"I see. I brought cupcakes! I'll leave them in the fridge for you." Jemma smiled.

"Thanks Jemma, that's very kind. Cleo, Jemma's here!" Leo shouted.

Cleo tentatively walked in the room from her bedroom, smiling at Jemma slightly. Jemma got down on her knees to Cleo's level and smiled.

"Hi, Cleo! I'm Jemma. It's nice to meet you." Jemma grinned. Cleo stared at her in silence.

"She's just a bit shy. Right, I have to go, I'm sorry! Right, be good you!" Leo said, kissing the top of Cleo's head and turning to Jemma.

"Thanks so much." He said and Jemma smiled.

"No problem; we'll be fine." She said happily.

"Great. Okay, the fridge is fully stocked and I've written instructions on how everything works and all the necessary information we talked about on the pad on the counter over there." Leo explained as he headed for the door.

"Okay, great."

"Right, okay…I have to go. See you soon! Bye!" Leo said, waving at Jemma and winking at Cleo as he walked out, leaving the apartment in silence as Jemma and Cleo awkwardly stared at one another.

"Right then, shall we see what your daddy's written for me?" Jemma said, picking up the notepad on the nearby counter and was surprised to see it was completely full with Leo's writing. She quickly flicked through it.

"Wow, he's literally thought of everything!" Jemma chuckled. Cleo stayed silent. Jemma picked up a cupcake that she'd carried in and sat down on the couch. Cleo stood in front of her, avoiding eye contact.

"So, what do you want to do?" Jemma asked. Cleo stayed silent again.

"…Right." Jemma added.

After a few more moments of silence, Jemma tentatively held out her hand containing the cupcake in Cleo's direction. A moment of hesitation later, Cleo walked slowly up to her and took the cupcake from her, taking off a chocolate button on top and eating it. A smile slowly spread across her face, which Jemma reflected on hers.

"Good?" Jemma asked. Cleo nodded before walking over to the counter, picked up another cupcake and handed it to Jemma. She took a bite out of it as Cleo giggled.

"…Good?" Cleo asked eventually. Jemma nodded as Cleo sat down on the couch next to her. The two looked at each other and randomly giggled together.

"…Do you…do you want to see the book my dad reads to me before bed?" Cleo asked.

"I'd love to." Jemma said excitedly. Cleo jumped up and ran into her room with a buzz about her. Jemma watched her go and chuckled to herself.

I think I'm gonna enjoy this.

Her phone went off, and she was shocked to see Leo had text her, not her boyfriend as she had expected.

'Thanks for helping me out!'

Jemma smiled as she quickly replied. She was glad to be of service.

'You're quite welcome.'